Monitor your OR performance!

Focus on identifying opportunities for improvement in terms of occupation.

Lien Van den Berghe

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that many healthcare professionals feel the phrase “knowledge is power” is particularly applicable to their discipline. When we think of knowledge in healthcare, the first thing that comes to mind is the wide range of clinical studies carried out during the development of new therapies and methods to treat patients. But other types of knowledge can make a difference too; hospitals are increasingly focusing on collecting data that can support their internal management and organization. In cost-intensive departments such as operating rooms in particular, the easy availability of accurate management knowledge is crucial.

However, making this knowledge available is not as easy as it seems. Even though data on operating room planning and procedures performed is being captured methodically, translating this data to provide an indicator of room occupation is a labor-intensive process. In addition, we have noticed that even if occupation figures are available, these often lack the details required to identify and tackle any bottlenecks and their causes. For example, average room occupation might seem good, but nurses might still be working overtime and operating rooms might still be still standing empty.

The OR dashboard was developed as a solution to these challenges. The purpose of this tool is to provide hospitals with insights into the occupation of their OR infrastructure and employees. By processing these automated reports in the form of a dynamic and “clickable” dashboard, OR managers or planners can independently filter out the information they want to see. This allows them to focus on specific rooms, specializations, or time periods, facilitating a more accurate diagnosis of any problems that might occur. Plus, the tool’s strong visual representation of results makes the process of reporting back to management, OR committees, or boards much simpler. An additional feature of the OR dashboard makes it possible for hospitals to compare themselves to other players in the sector through selected benchmark figures. This way, hospitals can see where there is room for improvement or in which areas they are top performers.

The OR dashboard allows organizations to focus on identifying opportunities for improvement in terms of occupation, as well as implement and follow up on any proposed adjustments that might contribute to effective change within the organization.